Spring construction

ABSTRACT

A furniture spring construction comprised of an array of hour glass coil springs arranged in parallel rows and surrounded by edge wires, and with at least one stringer having a central portion interwoven with the end turns of coil springs in one or more selected rows and fastened at its opposite ends to the edge wire to impart greater stiffness to the mattress at selected regions. This invention relates to box springs and mattresses, and more particularly comprises a new and improved construction for providing additional support at selected areas of a box spring or mattress.

United States Patent 1 Zocco SPRING CONSTRUCTION [75] Inventor: GeorgeZocco, South Braintree,

Mass.

[73] Assignee: Slumberland Products Co., Woburn,

Mass.

[22] Filed: Oct. 21, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 191,530

[52] US. Cl

..5/267, 5/277 [51] Int. Cl ..A47c 23/02 [58] Field of Search ..5/267,275-277, 5/351; 267/91, 93,101

[5 6] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Levine ..5/267 Carey..5/277 [451 May 29, 1973 3,517,398 6/1970 Patton ..5/351 PrimaryExaminer-James C. Mitchell Attorney-Wolf, Greenfield & Sacks [5 7]ABSTRACT A furniture spring construction comprised of an array of hourglass coil springs arranged in parallel rows and surrounded by edgewires, and with at least one stringer having a central portioninterwoven with the end turns of coil springs in one or more selectedrows and fastened at its opposite ends to the edge wire to impartgreater stiffness to the mattress at selected regions.

This invention relates to box springs and mattresses, and moreparticularly comprises a new and improved construction for providingadditional support at selected areas of a box spring or mattress.

3 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures 1 SPRING CONSTRUCTION BACKGROUND OF THEINVENTION A number of techniques have been developed for se lectivelystiffening different areas of mattresses and box springs. Generally suchtechniques involve the use of heavier springs and/or filler material atthose regions where additional stiffness is desired. Such techniquessubstantially increase manufacturing costs by virtue of the added costof material and the added attention which must be given to themanufacturing and assembling of the various parts.

When heavier springs and special fillers are employed to achieveselected stiflening of a mattress or box spring, it is obvious that themanufacturer must independently inventory springs and mattresses ofthose special forms as well as conventional mattresses which are notselectively stiffened. Therefore the manufacturers inventoryrequirements are increased, which in turn further adds to the cost ofsuch goods to the consumer.

OBJECTS AND FEATURES OF THE PRESENT INVENTION An important object of thepresent invention is to provide a technique for stiffening box springsand mattresses, which may be incorporated into otherwise conventionallyconstructed box springs and mattresses. Thus, the technique employedessentially comprises an addition to otherwise conventionallyconstructed springs and mattresses so as to reduce the increasedmanufacturing costs, inventory requirements, and resultant consumercosts of specially stiffened springs and mattresses.

To accomplish that and other objects, the construction of the presentinvention includes an array of coil springs arranged in parallel rows.An edge wire surrounds the array of coils in the plane of the end turnsof the coils, and the many coils are secured to one another and thesurrounding edge wires. At least one stringer is employed which isinterwoven with the end turns of the coil springs in at least one rowand is fastened at its opposite ends to the edge wire. The stringer isfastened by being turned about the edge wires with the stringer endsextending inwardly of the edge wire and lying substantially in the planeof the rest of the stringer that is interwoven with the end turn of thecoils.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF FIGURES FIG. 1 is a top view of a mattressconstructed in accordance with this invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary detail of a portion of the mattressshown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side view of a single coil of the mattress shown in FIG. 1and showing the stringer wire interwoven with the outer turn of the coiland secured to the edge wire;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary side view of the end of the stringer before itis secured in place; and

FIG. 5 is a bottom view of the portion of the stringer shown in FIG. 4.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION The following description of the invention ispresented in terms of its application to a mattress. However, it is tobe understood that the invention is not limited to that application butmay be used with box springs and other spring supports found infurniture.

The mattress shown in FIG. 1 is made up of a plurality of paralleltransverse rows 10 of hour glass shaped coil springs 12, one of which isshown in detail in FIG. 3. An edge wire 14 extends about the peripheryof the mattress both on the top and bottom face in the plane of theouter turns 16 of the hour glass springs 12. (For clarity the edge wireon the bottom face is omitted in FIG. 3.)

As shown in FIG. 2, a helical wire 18 is wound about the adjacent edgesof the end turns 16 of the hour glass coils 12 in adjacent rows 10.Similarly, a helically wound wire 20 secures the edge wires 14 to theadjacent portions of the end turns 16 of the hour glass coils 12' aboutthe periphery of the mattress. While they are not shown in the drawing,it is to be understood that the helically wound wires 18 and 20 alongwith the edge wire 14 on the top surface find their duplicate on thelower surface of the mattress.

The spring construction thus far described is conventionally known asBonnell-type construction and is widely used. As will be apparent fromthe following description, while the invention is shown as used withBonnell-type spring units, the invention may be used with equal facilityin stake-type spring units and other constructions where coil springsare arranged in rows in the support.

The center third section 22 of the mattress shown in FIG. 1 is made morefirm by the use of three stringers 24 which extend across the mattressfrom side to side and are fastened at their ends to the edge wire 14.The stringers 24 are interwoven with the upper turn 16 of each hourglass coil 12 in a row of such coils across the mattress. Thus, as shownin FIG. 2, the central portion 26 of the stringer crosses over the rightside edge 16a of each end turn 16 of each coil 12 in row 10a of themattress, and the central portion crosses beneath the left side portion16b of each coil. The ends 28 of the stringer 24 are hooked about theedge wire 14 in the manner shown in FIG. 3.

The end 28 of edge wire 24 shown in FIG. 4 is formed with a U-shapedbend 30 which is somewhat more than and the end of the bend 30 is turnedaway from the central portion or main body 26 of the stringer assuggested at 32 to provide an open slot 34 to facilitate insertion ofthe edge wire 14 into the bite 36 defined by the U-shaped bend 30. Thebottom portion of the U-shaped bend 30 and end 32 lie below the centralportion 26 of the stringer. When the end 28 is slipped about the edgewire 14 so that the edge wire lies in bite 36,'end 32 is bent upwardlyso as efiectively to increase the circumferential extent of the benduntil the end 32 lies substantially in the plane of the central portion26 of the stringer. This is clearly shown in FIG. 3. As will be noted inFIG. 5, the bottom portion of U-shaped bend 30 and end 32 are displacedfrom vertical alignment with central portion 26 of the stringer, so thatthe end 28 of the stringer may be bent to the position shown in FIG. 3to close the edge wire 14 within the bite. It is to be understood thateach end of each stringer is shaped as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 beforeapplication to the mattress, and after application the ends 28 are bentto the position shown in FIG. 3 to lock securely each stringer inposition.

While in the foregoing description and in the illustrated embodiment thestringers are disclosed as lying at the center third of the mattress, itis to be understood that a lesser or greater extent of the mattresscould be made more firm by the use of stringers. Thus, while in the formshown three stringers are used, one disposed in every third row ofcoils, they could in fact be disposed more closely together or furtherapart, and more or fewer stringers could be used.

From the foregoing description it is apparent that by the use of theinexpensive stringers shown, which may be of the same gage as the edgewires, the mattress may be made more firm wherever desired. Thestringers may be applied to an otherwise conventionally constructedmattress or box spring so that the manufacturer need not increase itsinventory. The stringers serve to prevent the coils from settling in theregion where they are applied and the coils consequently maintain theiroriginal shape for a longer period. As a result, a box spring ormattress may be provided with more firm selected regions without the useof special filler material and without the use of heavier gage springsin selected sections.

What is claimed is:

l. A furniture spring construction comprising an array of coil springsarranged in parallel rows,

an edge wire surrounding the array of coil springs in the plane of theend turns of the coil springs,

means for fastening selected coil springs to the edge wire, and at leastone stringer having a central portion interwoven with the end turns ofselected coil springs in a row and fastened at its opposite ends to theedge wire,

said ends of the stringer being fastened to the edge wire by beingturned about the edge wire and extending back toward the central portionof the stringer and lying substantially in the plane of and parallel tothe central portion of the stringer.

2. A furniture spring construction as defined in claim 1 furthercharacterized by there being a plurality of said stringers eachextending along and interwoven with the end turns of the coil springs indifferent rows,

said stringers being confined to one portion of the construction tostiffen that portion in contrast to the remaining portions thereof.

3. A furniture spring construction as described in claim 2 furthercharacterized by said springs being hour glass shaped and with the rowsof hour glass springs being connected together and to the edge wire byhelically wound Wll'eS.

1. A furniture spring construction comprising an array of coil springsarranged in parallel rows, an edge wire surrounding the array of coilsprings in the plane of the end turns of the coil springs, means forfastening selected coil springs to the edge wire, and at least onestringer having a central portion interwoven with the end turns ofselected coil springs in a row and fastened at its opposite ends to theedge wire, said ends of the stringer being fastened to the edge wire bybeing turned about the edge wire and extending back toward the centralportion of the stringer and lying substantially in the plane of andparallel to the central portion of the stringer.
 2. A furniture springconstruction as defined in claim 1 further characterized by there beinga plurality of said stringers each extending along and interwoven withthe end turns of the coil springs in different rows, said stringersbeing confined to one portion of the construction to stiffen thatportion in contrast to the remaining portions thereof.
 3. A furniturespring construction as described in claim 2 further characterized bysaid springs being hour glass shaped and with the rows of hour glasssprings being connected together and to the edge wire by helically woundwires.